


Poor Timing

by mshakarios



Series: Table For Three (Themmus Fics) [6]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fluff and Humor, Hospitals, Injury Recovery, M/M, Marriage Proposal, Polyamory, emmett is an idiot but he's THEIR idiot, possibly the worst marriage proposal ever
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-03
Updated: 2018-07-03
Packaged: 2019-06-04 21:55:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,305
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15156410
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mshakarios/pseuds/mshakarios
Summary: Emmett Shepard seems to always pick the worst possible time to do things. Proposing marriage is no exception.Post-ME3, canon divergence (of course), fluffy Thane/Em/Garrus. Let these men be happy BioWare I swear to christ





	Poor Timing

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah, I did it. I did the Themmus marriage proposal thing. 
> 
> Rated for swearing, and for vague descriptions of Em's fucked up post-ME3 injuries. As always, heaps of canon divergence, since I'm so deep in denial over Thane's death that my brain hardly even registers Thane-doesn't-die AUs as canon divergence at this point.

“Marry me.” 

The words are soft, half-mumbled, yet unmistakable through their translators. Both men look over at their lover as the sound of his voice cuts through the quiet atmosphere, speaking over the soft yet steady hums and beeps of the hospital machinery. They look at him, then at each other, then back at him.

“ _What_ , Shepard?”

Garrus’s tone is incredulous. Emmett opens his eyes just a crack, looking over at each of his companions. He manages a weak little grin at the surprise on both of their faces. 

“Marry me.” He is silent again for a long moment, collecting his thoughts. “I mean, I know that it might not be the best time to ask this. I know I’m splayed out in a hospital bed, half-alive, hooked up to a bunch of fuckin’ machines. I look like hell, my arm and leg are gone, my hair’s all burned off. Not exactly romantic, y’know? But….then again, I might not get the chance to ask this if I don’t do it now.” The smile on his face now is sheepish and slightly pained, but the emotion behind it is unmistakably gentle and genuine, and his voice and gaze grow soft as he looks back and forth between the two of them. “So….please. Will you marry me?”

The quiet that sinks over the room as he finishes talking is enough to make his stomach churn. He frantically starts to speak again. 

“I-I mean….just if y’all want to. I know it might be weird, with the three of us, and I know that you might not want me now that I’m all fucked up and burnt to a crisp and missing limbs, and Thane, I know it might feel weird for you to get married again after Irikah, and you might not want to, and I absolutely get that, but y’know, I just thought I’d--”

“Emmett.” The voice coming from the bed beside him is soft. 

“....Yeah?”

“Yes.”

Emmett looks over at Thane, surprised by the peaceful smile on his lover’s face. After allowing Emmett a moment to calm down, the drell continues, and his words are measured and gentle. 

“Siha, I have no way of knowing how much time we have left together. This treatment may work, or it may not, and I could have years, or months, or hours. There’s no way to tell. No matter how much time I have left, though, what matters is that I love you. Whatever time I have, I want to spend it with you.” His gaze turns to Garrus. “With _both_ of you. So….yes. You’re right, the timing might not be ideal, but my answer is yes.”

Emmett lets out a sigh of relief as the tense atmosphere of the room begins to dissipate. He looks at Garrus now, his expression sheepishly hoping for a similar response. The turian laughs as he rises from the chair between the two hospital cots and walks over to Emmett, his claws gingerly grasping the human’s remaining hand in a familiar gesture of affection. 

“Come on. Is that even a question? You’re the love of my life, Emmett. We’ve made it this far, you really think I’m going to spend the rest of my life without you? Y’know, with the Reapers finally gone, I’ve got a feeling we can finally settle down. Retire somewhere hot. Get some peace for once. It might be hard for you to adjust to _not_ having to save the galaxy every other month, but hey. That’s what you’ve got me for, right? I’m here for you.”

“So, that’s….a yes.”

“Of course it is! I love you. And I can’t speak for either of you, but I'm actually kind of looking forward to the stage in our relationship where we’re _not_ getting shot at every time we’re together.”

“Yeah. I feel that. I mean, granted, you’ll both still have to deal with….all this.” He looks down at his stable but mangled body. “Might have to change my bandages and stuff. Come prop me up when I fall down in the shower. Maybe the prosthetics won’t mesh right, and I’ll end up in a chair, and you’ll have to calibrate the steering system for me all the time. Y’know, shit like that. I know I was a handful to deal with before, with all my weird mental shit, but it’s probably about to get a hell of a lot worse.” He pauses for a moment. “Oh, Jesus, this is the least romantic marriage proposal ever, isn’t it? The timing’s already shit, and now I’m not exactly selling the idea of being married to me as a good thing, am I? Fuck!”

Garrus squeezes his hand affectionately.

“You’re right; you’ve got terrible timing, Em. And yeah, things might get difficult. But things have been difficult for a long damn time now, and I think we’re all used to it.”

“This relationship has never been easy,” Thane speaks up again, and Garrus turns to look at him as he addresses them both, “And probably never will be. It requires effort, like all meaningful relationships do, and our circumstances have been….particularly demanding. But what we have is worth it. I love both of you, no matter how difficult things might be. I never thought that I would feel this way again after Irikah’s death; my soul was asleep for years. You woke me up. You gave me a purpose, helped me reconnect with my son. I had been resigned to my death for years, but loving you changed something in me. I am finally awake, and these treatments will hopefully give me more time, with Kolyat and with both of you. _That_ is worth any amount of effort, Siha.”

“And for what it’s worth, you’re a long way past the point of having to sell us on you. You’re my best friend; I was sold on you back when we took down Saren, and I need you around, whether I’m your friend or your squadmate or your husband or whatever the hell else you need me to be. Hate to tell you this, Shepard, but it looks like you’re stuck with us. So, yeah. We’ll marry you.”

The room is quiet again for a long moment. 

“Shit, I love y’all.” Emmett is fairly certain he has tears in his eyes, but it doesn’t matter. “I can’t wait to be shitty retired space husbands together.”

“Yeah, we love you, too. Could you just….do us both a favor? Let’s hold off on the wedding until you can get out of bed. I get that you’re eager, but you’re not gonna have a good time if you’re all charred to hell and missing half your limbs.”

Emmett snorts.

“Sure, Garrus. Anything for my _grooms_.” He draws the last word out dramatically, enjoying the feel of it in his mouth. 

“Em.”

“My fiancés. My intendeds. My betrothed….eds. My husbands-to-be. My altar associates. My main matrimonial men. My buddies in marital bonds.”

“Em!” 

“My mates, who are also my mates! My squad, in sickness and in health! The duo of dudes where I’m dropping my anchor!”

“You’re making some of those up. There’s no way humans use even half of those phrases, they’re ridiculous!”

“The pair to whom I plight my troth!”

“My translator didn’t even pick that one up! It just sounded like weird human noises!” 

Emmett starts to cackle, then quickly stops with a sharp gasp of pain.

“Ooh, okay. Can’t, uh….can’t do that. Don’t let me laugh too hard. I might not make it to the wedding if I don’t shut up and stop makin’ myself laugh like a dumbass.”

“Don't worry. We’ve got you.”

“Always.”

“....Oh, and one more thing. Quick follow-up question: how do y’all feel about me hyphenating my last name?”

“Emmett….”


End file.
